Gore Verbinski Explains Why ‘BioShock’ Movie Isn’t Happening

Last summer, Gore Verbinski updated us on the status of the BioShock film adaptation. At the time, they were trying to figure out a way to cut down costs of production, but still allow for the film to carry the aesthetic and scope of the popular video game it is based on.

The trouble, as we all know, is that the goal is to make the BioShock film with a well-deserved R-Rating which restricts the size of the theater-going audience and therefore, the willingness to invest from the studio side of the equation. As fans of the game know however, no film should be made based on the game unless it does have that R-Rating.

Back in July of 2010, here’s what Verbinski had to say on the matter:

“We’re working trying to make it. The problem with BioShock was: R-rated movie, underwater, horror. It’s a really expensive R-rated movie… So we’re trying to figure out a way working with [director] Juan Carlos [Fresnadillo] to get the budget down and still keep so it’s true to the core audience, you know? The thing is it has to be R, a hard R.”

Fast forward over half a year and the BioShock film still isn’t going anywhere. Verbinski is dedicated to the story of the game and will only make it the right way. Unfortunately for budgetary purposes, that involves the adult rating and no studio is willing to put that much faith in the project.

Coming Soon had the opportunity to speak with Verbinski about his upcoming projects and had him open up on why the BioShock movie isn’t moving forward. As it turns out, it’s not happening because they cannot acquiring the studio support to make the movie the right way.

“I couldn’t really get past anybody that would spend the money that it would take to do it and keep an R rating. Alternately, I wasn’t really interested in pursuing a PG-13 version. Because the R rating is inherent. Little Sisters and injections and the whole thing. I just wanted to really, really make it a movie where, four days later, you’re still shivering and going, “Jesus Christ!”… It’s a movie that has to be really, really scary, but you also have to create a whole underwater world, so the pricetag is high. We just didn’t have any takers on an R-rated movie with that pricetag.”

If they can’t make the movie right, don’t make the movie at all. We’ve seen far too many video game franchises get awful film adaptations (Max Payne, Doom) which tarnish the brand. Over the last year or so however, some game publishers and studios have realized the negative impact of this and we’ve seen projects come to a stand still, and even some developers not letting their properties get adapted (see: Metal Gear Solid or anything developed by Valve).

Maybe if Gore would just make the movie worse, screw up the characters and story a little bit, making it family-friendly, then he’ll get all the money he needs to make a Prince of Persia 2BioShock movie.

Do you think an R-Rated BioShock movie warrants a blockbuster budget? One way to offer a higher return on investment is to make the movie in 3D, something Verbinski thinks would work well for BioShock.

For fans of the franchise, you can still look forward to BioShock: Infinite, the upcoming game which takes players out of the water and into the flying city of Columbia.